A Million Koi
by croquant
Summary: Lelouch's life in Hogwarts sucks. He is so much better than this school promises, but he can't find the energy to change his life...


Up.

Down.

Up.

Down.

The Hacky Sack continued its aimless whirl in my hand.

Its grin mocked me as I lay down in my altogether too small Hogwarts cot.

How could one be satisfied here?

They called it the top school in England, yet their curriculum and textbooks were no different from standard fare.

At this point, I'd never be able to surpass my brother.

But the problem was that instead of studying and practicing magic in my spare time, here I was...

Playing with a Hacky Sack in my bed.

I completely lost all my motivation after seeing the state of education here.

Everything in me urged me to get up. Yet I couldn't. I blamed the turkey and mashed potatoes from the dinner table.

Eating like a citizen, mingling with citizens... I was becoming exactly the thing I detested.

Maybe I was scared that even after trying my best, I wouldn't succeed.

That it would all be wasted effort.

Almost, in an effort to prove this hypothesis wrong, my fingers travelled to my wand.

But then stopped.

"They say the springs are particularly hot tonight."

Here was CC, looking at me with an upside grin.

"Shouldn't you be in the girls dorm?"

"The steam might rejuvenate you... or the sulfur might kill you."

She skipped out.

I didn't look.

"Ow!"

Something pricked me in my bed.

* * *

I groaned.

"I don't like the way you think that hurting me will motivate me to come with you," I complained.

"Where would I be without the awesome knowledge of Lelouch, though?"

"Why do you think buttering me up would work? We already know who's got more competence with magic between us... witch."

CC floated effortlessly. She zoomed up so that it looked like she was sitting on the very tip of the cresent moon.

"Doesn't it hurt to have the moon stick up your butt?" I said nastily.

"Doesn't it hurt to lose your spot as first in class?" she said cuttingly. "Now, try this."

Luminescent, a geometric pattern drew itself before me.

"What is this?"

"The octohedral ring of sulfur."

"We're only up to four sided shapes," I reminded CC.

Our magic was elemental. Alchemical. We understood the molecular structure of the world around us, and slowly, bit by bit, repeated it until something blossomed...

The air stunk.

I sighed and laid out the mathematical form in my mind.

The way to do this wouldn't be to imagine all 8 sides at once. Your mind can only handle up to 7 things at one time, after all.

I closed my eyes and envisioned a 4 sided ring. I thought of each line, then I copied that line, until I made a diamond. Mirror the diamond and you get...

I looked up.

Instead of a ring, it was a figure 8.

The golden lines before me dissolved and the air smelled like nail polish.

"I don't feel like doing this. Maybe I'll just go work at an office like the rest of these losers after graduation." Where was a cigarette when you needed one?

CC looked furious.

She zoomed to me but before she got to me she yelped and flailed onto the ground.

A small furry animal, perhaps lured out by the old smell, had come out and was fiercely gnawing at her hair.

"Spiteful weasel!" CC roared.

4 sided ring, and a chain. Lines broken up by balls to keep it malleable...

A collar appeared on the weasel, its extended metal leash in my hand.

"Thank you." Then CC looked confused. "What are you doing, Lelouch? Pull it back."

I chuckled.

"Who am I to deny my new pet the pleasure of your hair?"

Grumpily CC resigned herself to her fate and chose a flat looking rock to lie her head on. The 'weasel' continued to munch on her hair with licking sounds.

I looked at the leash and felt some satisfaction. We weren't up to creating foot long structures yet, but my chain was well over three feet long and solidly constructed.

"Yes, good job," CC said, yawning.

"I can't do this. I can't go to school and teach myself," I said. It might have been a complaint but instead it came out plainly.

"Then after this, you'll have a 9 to 5, and you'll never have time to teach yourself. You'll read math textbooks in your free time, or find new games, or just keep lying in bed. But if you don't start now, you never will."

"Why is it like this? I am a prince! All my prior education and good breeding should have prevented me from needing to also go to school while I find some other way to support myself," I demanded.

"Do you think everyone can chase their dreams?" CC had a faraway look in her eyes.

"Everyone but me," I said petulantly.

Silence.

"Because," I clarified, "everyone has small dreams. Their dreams are easy, because they're not as capable as me to begin with. But I can't live this life. I don't care about the things other employees will care about. I want to..."

"You want a million things, Lelouch?"

"Yes!" I said frustratedly. "I want to invent something, and have a million people use it. I want to hone my skills so that I can best my brother at... something. Publicly. I want to humiliate my brother," I finished. "I want to devote my life to humiliating my brother." Sounded a little lame when I put it like that, but there.

"I want to see koi..." said CC dreamily.

I tried to make a million koi appear in the stars, but when I opened my eyes there were just some dots.


End file.
